News Article: Pens Promote Patrik Allvin to Director of Amateur Scouting

[Clare2904]

All I have to say about The Room is:

Spoonsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

EDIT - Well done Patrik (to keep on topic)

 

[Freeptop]

I was looking at the Pens site and hockey ops personnel. Aside from Allvin, we have TWO European scouts. TWO!!


I don't know for sure how many Euro scouts other teams have, but I would think we should have 5 or 6 European scouts. At least:


- 1 in Russia
- 1 for Czech Rep. and Slovakia
- 1 for Finland
- 1 for Sweden (probably need 2 here, or 3 total between Fin and SWE)
- 1 for Switzerland/Germany (could also cover France, Slovenia, Austria)


So it seems we are short at least 2 or 3 Euro scouts. I hope with Allvin at the helm -- who by definition of the role of head of ALL amateur scouting (not just Euro) is going to need to cover some NA territory -- he will make it a priority to hire an additional 2 or 3 Euro scouts. Particularly for us being a cap team who has traded lots of draft picks and will pick low in the standings, DOING THIS IS ESSENTIAL!!!!

First of all, the Pens had 3 European scouts until Allvin was promoted. They'll likely back-fill that position, but scouts seem to get hired later in the summer (I've been tracking the Pens' scout listing for years, and those don't usually get updated until the Fall).

Second of all, most teams only have 1-2 European scouts. Detroit being the exception.

I'd like to see the Pens increase their scouting staff in general (seems silly to only increase it for Europe, when there are chances to find hidden gems throughout North America as well), but it's not like the Pens are going cheap on the scouting staff budget - they've already got a staff that's comparable size or larger than most other teams, including in Europe.

 

[Darth Vitale]

All their Euros are belong to us?

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Could be wrong, but I think the reason it's a cult classic is because it's so awful.

It's the level of bad movie that doesn't need something like MST3k or RiffTrax riffing it to be ****ing hilarious. It's a masterpiece in it's ineptitude; a gorgeous car crash.


The Pens had 3 Euro scouts last year, one is on the way out (I believe the Finnish scout took a management job in Espoo), and one was promoted. I think it's safe to say new scouts will be hired. There's always a ton of turnover with scouts, and they're generally not the kind of hires that make the news...we're basically at the grace of the official website being up to date to know who the scouts are at a given time.

 

[clefty]

The Pens had 3 Euro scouts last year, one is on the way out (I believe the Finnish scout took a management job in Espoo)

He holds both jobs.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

He holds both jobs.

Well there you go. One other thing a list of scouts doesn't say: which ones are full-time and which ones are part-time. Probably safe to say Pakaslahti is a part-timer as long as he's balancing both of those roles.

 

[clefty]

Well there you go. One other thing a list of scouts doesn't say: which ones are full-time and which ones are part-time. Probably safe to say Pakaslahti is a part-timer as long as he's balancing both of those roles.

And as it would turn out, that's what his LinkedIn says.

One change that's definitely happening is Scott Bell, who drafted Jake Guentzel, is going to join Mike Guentzel as a Gophers assistant coach.

 

[shureshot66]

And as it would turn out, that's what his LinkedIn says.

One change that's definitely happening is Scott Bell, who drafted Jake Guentzel, is going to join Mike Guentzel as a Gophers assistant coach.

Yup. For those who missed it, this was a pretty good column on Bell and Jake from the other day.

 

[SHOOTANDSCORE]

Yup. For those who missed it, this was a pretty good column on Bell and Jake from the other day.

Good read.

I wonder who Shero had take personal responsibility for Pouliot.

 

[HandshakeLine]

First of all, the Pens had 3 European scouts until Allvin was promoted. They'll likely back-fill that position, but scouts seem to get hired later in the summer (I've been tracking the Pens' scout listing for years, and those don't usually get updated until the Fall).

Second of all, most teams only have 1-2 European scouts. Detroit being the exception.

I'd like to see the Pens increase their scouting staff in general (seems silly to only increase it for Europe, when there are chances to find hidden gems throughout North America as well), but it's not like the Pens are going cheap on the scouting staff budget - they've already got a staff that's comparable size or larger than most other teams, including in Europe.

Right on.

The thing that makes scouting a bit of a crapshoot here is the wide disparity between league quality. The upside is every place outside of Russia is, at most, a 2 hour plane ride away. If I were retooling the Euro scouting program, I'd try to get:

1 scout for Central Europe (Czech and Slovak Extraliga, Austrian/German, Polish)
1 scout for Scandinavia (Sweden, Norway, Finland)
1 roving scout for the other leagues

And then, if you had someone in the front office with decent connections to the Russian clubs (which is more important than in the other leagues, given the lack of transfer agreement), I'd consider having a KHL scout. If Gonchar wasn't doing such great work here in Pittsburgh, I'd actually consider making that part of his portfolio-- he's famous, he's got connections with a lot of the Russian hockey elite, and he's a native speaker of Russian, so he can wheel and deal, which is doubly important there.

 

[clefty]

Right on.

The thing that makes scouting a bit of a crapshoot here is the wide disparity between league quality. The upside is every place outside of Russia is, at most, a 2 hour plane ride away. If I were retooling the Euro scouting program, I'd try to get:

1 scout for Central Europe (Czech and Slovak Extraliga, Austrian/German, Polish)
1 scout for Scandinavia (Sweden, Norway, Finland)
1 roving scout for the other leagues

And then, if you had someone in the front office with decent connections to the Russian clubs (which is more important than in the other leagues, given the lack of transfer agreement), I'd consider having a KHL scout. If Gonchar wasn't doing such great work here in Pittsburgh, I'd actually consider making that part of his portfolio-- he's famous, he's got connections with a lot of the Russian hockey elite, and he's a native speaker of Russian, so he can wheel and deal, which is doubly important there.

I'm actually pretty sure I read somewhere that Gonchar scouts European tournaments along with his coaching thing.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I'm actually pretty sure I read somewhere that Gonchar scouts European tournaments along with his coaching thing.

You're probably right, Clefty. I was just suggesting as a full-time scout, which, honestly, is a bit of a pay cut for ol' Sarge.

 

[Freeptop]

Right on.

The thing that makes scouting a bit of a crapshoot here is the wide disparity between league quality. The upside is every place outside of Russia is, at most, a 2 hour plane ride away. If I were retooling the Euro scouting program, I'd try to get:

1 scout for Central Europe (Czech and Slovak Extraliga, Austrian/German, Polish)
1 scout for Scandinavia (Sweden, Norway, Finland)
1 roving scout for the other leagues

And then, if you had someone in the front office with decent connections to the Russian clubs (which is more important than in the other leagues, given the lack of transfer agreement), I'd consider having a KHL scout. If Gonchar wasn't doing such great work here in Pittsburgh, I'd actually consider making that part of his portfolio-- he's famous, he's got connections with a lot of the Russian hockey elite, and he's a native speaker of Russian, so he can wheel and deal, which is doubly important there.

Totally agree with you. I'd also like to see at least one roving scout here in the U.S. to check hockey in places like Arizona, Texas, Carolina and Nashville, since hockey has been there for a while, and interest has expanded. Why not try to find those late-round/undrafted gems from places nobody else is looking (but maybe should be)? Why rely on talented players always having the ability to move to a more typical hockey location first before you spot them?